Having been elected as senator, Washington representative and governor with the support of the GOP, Babauta said he will now take a “supportive role” for anyone in the party who wishes to run for public office.
All he wants to do, he said is serve as head of the party and whoever wants to run, “I’m going to be there to help return the favor.”
Asked if he has any plan to challenge Congressman Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan again next year, Babauta declined to give a definite answer.
“I’m leaving everything open. Nothing is off the table when it comes to politics,” he said, adding that it will be very premature for him to say anything about his plans.
But since it appears that U.S. Republicans will dominate the U.S. Congress after the 2010 elections, Babauta said it will be wise to pick a good delegate candidate from the CNMI who is with the GOP.
“The U.S. House of Representatives is predominantly Republican and the trend seems that after the next national elections, the U.S. Senate will also become Republican,” he said.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, who masterminded the merger between the ruling Covenant Party and the supposedly opposition GOP, earlier said the Republican dominance in the nation’s capital made him decide to return to his old party and dissolve the Covenant Party which he formed in 2001 to run for governor against Babauta.
Babauta said NMI Republicans should now prepare and “put a Republican” in D.C.
Nomination of candidates for delegate and local positions, he said is a matter the party has to decide. That, he assured, is coming up as the party will deal with such issue when the time comes.
Babauta said he has been a Republican all his life.
“I’m so honored and privileged to have been elected president of the party and, for the first time, to serve the party as an official rather than as a candidate. Now, I want to serve our candidates,” he added.
He said the GOP is open to any other Covenant Party members “out there.”
Last Friday, 1,000 members of the ruling party joined the GOP.
